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Hey Mom, I bwoked his tail off.

This just happened. For real.
I’m sitting at my sewing machine while Ivy plays on the iPad and Oliver sits beside her. With Yoda, our fat-tailed gecko.
And then, the words I never wanted to hear.

“Hey Mom, I bwoked his tail off.”

Me: “What?? NOOOOOOOO!!!” rushing over to the couch where I retrieve a tail-less Yoda and said tail. Which is squirming, regardless off the fact that it is NOT CONNECTED TO ANY BODY. And so I’m holding a stumpy Yoda in one hand and a squirming tail in the other hand and I’m SO GROSSED OUT. Like SO. GROSSED. OUT. I rush over to chuck the tail in the garbage. Where it continues to wriggle. AHHH. Shivers up my spine that won’t go away.

I return Yoda to his little cave and promise we won’t bother him for a long time.

Oliver was pretty upset, crying and sad. I reassured him that it was just an accident and Yoda’s tail would grow back soon. Awhile after he stopped crying and settle down he was like, “Mom, I didn’t see that coming. It was like, ‘Boom. His tail’s off.'”

I should have seen it coming though, because Oliver’s not really the most gentle with Yoda. It’s more like, Look Yoda’s on the lego! Look Yoda’s on the iPad! Look Yoda’s on the blanket! etc. etc. as Oliver totes him all over the place and transfers him from surface to surface to surface. It was inevitable I guess. Still, so gross, and so sad. I had to put something in the garbage a whole 13 minutes after “the incident” and that tail was still moving around! That is seriously the sickest thing ever! I asked Neil to come home from work and empty the garbage for me but he wouldn’t!

I’m worried that the big brothers are gonna be pretty mad at the little brother when they get home.

Ironically, I took this picture of Oliver and Yoda this morning, just thinking how much Oliver loved the gecko and how Yoda makes him so happy.

The last picture taken of Yoda with his original tail, apparently.

Google says Yoda could have a new tail in about six weeks….

UPDATE: The boys came home from school. I told them something sad happened to Yoda. Ben matter-of-factly and apathetically asked, “Did he die?” No Ben! He didn’t die. But his tail fell off. To which no one really responded because apparently no one really cared…